Manga Review: Kare First Love, Volume 5, by Kaho Miyasaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo)

Publish Date: 2005

Volumes: 10

Spoilers?: Yes.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Karin's overprotective father foils her plan to spend Christmas Eve with Kiriya, but the two manage to meet anyway. Kiriya gives Karin a pair of diamond earrings, but Karin's friend and confidante Nanri warns her about the earrings' symbolic meaning as a gift. Meanwhile, Kiriya invites Karin to a trip to the mountains to observe the photo shoot of Shinji Takagi, a good friend of his late brother Yuji, but a rainstorm finds them alone together at a sleazy hotel room for lovers. Will Karin finally conquer her fear of intimacy and "go all the way" with Kiriya?

Something Specific:
Quotes:

• "Don’t people usually wait to have sex until they’re both ready?” YES!
• "I guess it takes more than love to make a relationship work…” Such a cliché line, but this shows that Karin is growing!

Review:

This series is being surprisingly good about the sex issues, and that was just not something I was expecting.

The chapter starts with a big almost sex scene between Karin and Kiriya, one that I very much remembered. They talk a little, they make out, he enters her a little, but they don’t end up having sex. (Although I’m not really sure why. But maybe that’s just me, in thinking that, if you’ve started, why not just go all the way, when it didn’t really seem like she didn’t want to at that point?) They exchange presents, they almost get caught, and they cuddle for a while.

Afterward, Kiriya starts getting pushy, and Karin decides that she’s actually not ready to have sex yet, and they have a fight. I rather liked this fight, though, because Karin isn’t giving in. She believes that he shouldn’t be pushing her when she isn’t ready, and is standing up for herself, is confident enough to do so, while Kiriya doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. The fight lasts a while, with neither of them really talking.

Until Karin’s family goes to get a family picture taken, and end up having Kiriya as the photographer. Karin’s father warms up to him, and finally gives in to letting them go out, and that pulls them to make up. And Karin even held out, wanting to make him learn his lesson so he knew not to do it again, which I liked. Then Karin pierces her ears with the present Kiriya gave her, and they make plans to go on a trip together.

However, they end up going on a trip to visit a photographer at this shoot Kiriya’s sister-in-law is part of. That turns out not so well, though, when they get lost and it rains, and when they do run into the photographer, he kind of hits on Karin with devious intent, steals her earring, and Kiriya gets jealous. Good things are definitely not happening in the next volume. 

Either way, I’m looking forward to it. Especially since, I think this is about the spot that I left off reading the first time.